Jackie Chan and Jet Li finally teamed up in The Forbidden Kingdom, but the movie is also a big tribute to one sub-genre of martial arts films.

Jackie Chan and Jet Li first appeared on-screen together in 2008's The Forbidden Kingdom, but there is on added bonus of it that has not gotten as much attention. In The Forbidden Kingdom, American teenaged kung fu movie fan Jason Tripitikas (Michael Angarano) finds himself warped back to ancient China after coming into possession of the golden staff of the Monkey King (Jet Li). With the help of Lu Yan (Jackie Chan), Silent Monk (also Jet Li), and Golden Sparrow (Liu Yifei), Jason embarks on a mission to free the Monkey King in order to topple the Jade Warlord (Collin Chou).

Written by John Fusco from a story he once told his son, The Forbidden Kingdom is an ode of sorts to Wu Cheng'en's classic novel Journey to the West. The movie also showcased Jackie Chan and Jet Li in a martial arts battle for the very first time, and it remains a marvelous fight scene orchestrated by the great Yuen Woo-ping. However, The Forbidden Kingdom is also tribute to a major a martial arts movie sub-genre as well.

The Forbidden Kingdom Is A Shaw Brothers Kung Fu Movie Tribute

The Shaw Brothers studio was one of the most prolific producers of kung fu movies during the '70s, '80s, and even into the '90s, and essentially built its own recognizable brand of martial arts films. While a love letter to martial arts films in general, The Forbidden Kingdom is an overt tribute to Shaw Brothers kung fu movies. This can be seen early on in the opening credits and soundtrack, which are very reminiscent of those of Shaw Brothers movies.

Jason himself has posters of Shaw Brothers films adorning the walls of his bedroom. Jason is also seen playing the Shaw Brothers movie The Monkey Goes West on his TV in the movie's opening while expressing his fandom of Shaw Brothers films to pawn shop owner old Hop (Jackie Chan). Additionally, Golden Sparrow's name is an homage to the 1966 Shaw Brothers films Come Drink with Me, specifically the movie's heroine Golden Swallow. With the amount of inspiration the Shaw Brothers kung fu genre gives to The Forbidden Kingdom, that is also significant to the film in another way.

How The Forbidden Kingdom Was A Secret Career Milestone For Jackie Chan

What makes The Forbidden Kingdom's Shaw Brothers tributes even more of a stand-out element is the fact that is it the closest Jackie Chan himself has ever come to being in one. While Jet Li was the leading man of the 1986 Shaw Brothers movie Martial Arts of Shaolin (Li's only Shaw Brothers film), Chan never appeared in any Shaw Brothers movies. Indeed, Chan even turned down the Shaw Brothers studio early in his career, with Golden Harvest being his home studio as he began to make a name for himself.

Movies that pay tribute to other movies or entire genres of film have a unique charm, and The Forbidden Kingdom's reverence for the classic martial arts films of Jet Li, Jackie Chan, and other big stars is a love that is in every frame of the film. That said, The Forbidden Kingdom has a particular fondness for the Shaw Brothers corner of kung fu movies. While the detail of Jackie Chan and Jet Li's first movie together is front and center, The Forbidden Kingdom's clear love of the Shaw Brothers studios contributions to kung fu movies is another of its fun and nostalgic traits.